Belleville.com Posted on Sun, Jul. 11, 2004 FL SST Amnesic episode may have put Highland man into ‘twilight zone’ Medical experts weigh in opinions BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN bbrueggemann@bnd.com It sounds like something from a soap opera. Jim Schauster drives 4,000 miles, feeds himself during the nearly three-week trip, checks into a hotel for at least one Tight, drives back home, then doesn’t remember any of it. Experts on amnesia say it sounds as if Schauster may have experienced a phenomenon known as a fugue state -- an amnesic event where a person functions in a sort of twilight zone. “They travel long distances in these states, and they don't realize where they've been until they come around and they see that they've got a ticket or a hotel bill or something on them," said Dr. Michael Kopelman of London, one of the world's top experts on memory loss. Kopelman said he sees two or three patients a year who arrive In London with no idea who they are or why they're there. He said they usually snap out of it due to "some chance cue in the environment,” such as one patient who saw a book title that reminded him of a friend. Schuaster, 53, of Highland had been missing since June 18, when he showed up Tuesday morning at St. Joseph's Hospital in Highland. He said he was driving and realized he was in nearby St. Jacob, but he didn't know why, so he went straight to the hospital. Lt. John Lakin of the Madison County sheriff's department said police have no reason to doubt him. “We just have to go with what medical professionals are saying, that it may be some type of amnesia," Lakin said, "It is obviously the strangest missing persons case that I've ever been invalved with." ‘A machine operator at a plant in Troy, Schauster said he remembers nothing about the time he was missing. Police found a receipt in his car showing he spent July 4 in a Motel 6 in Topeka, Kan. His car's odometer indicates he drove about 4,000 miles during the episode. “When they come around from this, they have an amnesic gap of the period they disappeared in," Kopelman said. “They're often miles from where they started, but it's not impossible for them to find their way back home. Perception and topographical memories may be preserved. Kopelman also said driving during a fugue state is possible because “procedural memory is intact." Dr. Neal Cohen, a professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience at the Beckman Institute at University Of Illinois, said such states also are known as functional or psychogenic amnesia, “You're participating in the world just fine, but then you don't remember the person you just met; you don't remember what happened yesterday," said Cohen, who also runs an amnesia research laboratory. "You're sort of going around the world on automatic pilot.” Ken Paller, director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University, said a person in a fugue state could "still know who they are, still have memories up to a certain point, It wouldn't be a complete blackout of their life. They wouldn't forget how to talk or eat.” Police know Schuaster didn't use any credit cards during his absence. He apparently pald for everything with somecash he kept at home. He returned home with a duffel bag containing one set of clothes -- all apparently purchased along the way. What puzzles the experts is Schauster recalls hitting his head on the pipe. They said such episodes normally are caused by stress. Also, they say a person who suffers amnesia from a head injury normally doesn't recall the injury. “You don’t end up with this sort of thing, typically, from a on the head," Cohen said. Kopelman, who stressed he had not reviewed Schauster's case, said the episode could have been triggered by the injury if it'was coupled with stress, tt could have been the initial event," he said. Schauster said Thursday he knows he bumped his head while working on a pipe in his basement. “I remember cussing and thinking, ‘Oh, great, what next? he said. Schauster, who lives alone in the farmhouse where he was raised, also said he doesn’t remember being under any stress. laybe just mad from having trouble getting that pipe to fit, but otherwise, no, just the normal, everyday stuf - nothing out of the ordinary," he said. Cohen said he knows of one case of an adult man who lost a significant portion of his memory and is convinced it happened when he was hit on the head playing baseball in his youth, but doctors know his amnesia had to be triggered by something that happened much later. “You'd like to know what was going on in this man’s life prior to June 18," Cohen said, ‘Schauster said he met with doctors again Thursday. Tests have ruled out a stroke or seizure, and he apparently has, no brain damage. “For right now, everything looks like I should be clear to go back to work," he said. © 20048, lp Newe-Democrt and wie sv